“Father  Marcusson” 

OR 

Rev.  Jacob  W.  Marcusson 

By  Himself 


Published  by 

The  Chicago  Hebrew  Mission 

1425  Solon  Place,  Chicago 


Price  3  cents  per  copy 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2018  with  funding  from 
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https://archive.org/details/fathermarcussonoOOmarc 


“Father  Marcusson” 


Sketch  of  the  Life  and  Work  of 
Rev.  J.  W.  Marcusson 

By  Himself. 


I  was  born  in  Scalat,  a  small  village  in  Ga¬ 
licia,  Austria.  My  father’s  name  was  Herman 
Ben  Fion,  a  learned  Jewish  scholar,  well  versed 
in  the  Hebrew  language.  My  mother,  named 
Wanda,  was  the  daughter  of  Matthew  Wolf- 
sohn,  resident  in  Odessa,  Russia,  and  the  head 
of  the  Jewish  community  there.  When  I  was 
but  a  baby,  my  parents  moved  to  Odessa, 
where  my  father  was  engaged  in  business.  It 
was  in  Odessa  that  my  father  made  the 
acquaintance  of  Rev.  W.  G.  Schauffler,  D.D., 
then  a  young  man  of  great  piety  and  a  flute- 
maker  by  profession.  This  acquaintance  rip¬ 
ened  into  friendship  and  was  epoch-working 
on  my  future  life.  Dr.  Schauffler,  when  yet 
a  young  man,  was  converted  in  Odessa  and 
finally  resolved  to  become  a  missionary  to  the 
Jews.  My  father  was  deeply  interested  in  his 
character  and  conversation  and  became  a 
searcher  of  the  Scriptures  in  which  he  thor¬ 
oughly  believed.  In  searching  the  Scriptures 
in  company  with  Dr.  Schauffler,  he  was,  by 
degrees,  convinced  that  they  are  they  which 
testify  of  Jesus  as  the  promised  Messiah  of 
the  Jewish  nation.  God  so  ordered  that  the 
intimacy  with  young  Schauffler  made  of  my 
father  an  earnest  enquirer  of  the  truth  as  it 
is  in  Jesus.  And  when,  in  the  Providence  of 
God,  godly  men  and  women  of  Boston  formed 
a  Society  for  the  conversion  of  the  Jews,  Mr. 
Schauffler  was  commissioned  (after  he  had 
received  a  thorough  education  at  the  Theo¬ 
logical  School  at  Andover,  Mass.),  as  their 
first  Missionary  to  the  Jews  to  be  stationed  at 
Constantinople,  Turkey.  In  the  meantime,  the 
same  Saviour  who  worked  in  the  heart  of  Mr. 


3 


Schauffler  (and  determined  him  to  consecrate 
his  life  to  become  a  missionary  of  the  gospel 
to  the  Jews)  ;  also  accomplished  His  gra¬ 
cious  work  in  the  heart  of  miy  father  to  con¬ 
vince  him  of  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus,  and 
of  his  duty  to  confess  Him  among  his  breth¬ 
ren  the  Jews,  and  to  consecrate  himself  to  the 
service  of  Christ.  And  when  he  heard  that 
Mr.  Schauffler  had  gone  to  Constantinople,  as 
a  missionary  to  the  Jews,  he  determined  to 
go  to  him  and  tell  him  of  his  conversion.  The 
result  was  that  he  left  his  family,  who  re¬ 
jected  his  convictions,  and  went  to  Constanti¬ 
nople,  and  was  cordially  received  by  his  old 
friend,  and  after  a  further,  serious  searching 
of  the  Scriptures,  was  baptized  in  the  name 
of  the  blessed  Trinity,  with  the  baptism  of 
water  and  by  the  grace  of  God,  also  received 
the  baptism  of  the  Spirit  and  became  Dr. 
Schauffler’s  assistant  in  the  school  he  organ¬ 
ized  among  the  Jews  in  Constantinople.  My 
father  was  the  first  fruit  of  Dr.  Schauffler’s 
consecrated  work  in  the  Lord  among  the 
Jews.  At  his  baptism  he  assumed  the  name 
of  Marcusson.  These  two  young  men  were 
bound  in  the  true  fellowship  of  earnest  be¬ 
lievers  and  disciples  of  Jesus,  the  promised 
Messiah.  Truly,  it  was  through  much  tribu¬ 
lation  that  my  father  thus  entered  the  new 
life  in  Christ  Jesus.  In  doing  so  he  was  sepa¬ 
rated  from  his  wife  and  child  and  was  ostra¬ 
cized  by  the  Jews  his  kinsmen,  and  became 
“a  stranger  in  a  strange  land.”  The  autobiog¬ 
raphy  of  Dr.  Schauffler,  which  forms  the  pro¬ 
logue  of  my  father’s  life  and  activity  in  the 
vineyard  of  our  Lord  and  Master  Jesus 
Christ,  corroborates  these  statements.  My 
dear  mother,  a  most  exemplary  Jewess,  firm 
in  the  faith  of  her  nation’s  belief,  refused  to 
join  her  husband  and  taking  his  child  with 
her,  made  her  home  with  her  father,  who, 
after  the  death  of  his  first  wife,  married  again 
and  my  mother  continued  to  live  in  Odessa, 
in  her  father’s  home.  My  grandfather,  as  the 
head  of  the  Jewish  Community,  respected  and 


4 


loved  by  the  best  part  of  the  Jews,  succeeded 
in  organizing  a  graded  school  in  Odessa,  for 
its  Jewish  population,  which  was  looked  upon 
with  favor  by  the  Russian  Government  and 
became  very  profitable  to  the  Jewish  residents. 
His  was  the  house  wherein  I  entered  as  a 
small  child  to  be  with  my  mother,  while  my 
Father  still  resided  at  Constantinople. 

I  feel  it  vital  to  make  these  preliminary 
statements,  as  they  uncover  the  hidden  springs 
which  influenced  my  whole  subsequent  life 
in  all  its  development,  as  the  source  of  the 
Lord’s  loving  kindness  and  tender  mercies. 
(Of  course,  this  must  be  a  mere  sketch  of  a 
life  full  of  vicissitude  and  experiences,  which 
if  related,  would  fill  a  large  volume).  I  am 
now  an  old  man,  86  last  July  11,  1912,  and 
although  often  requested  to  write  my  auto¬ 
biography,  I  never  found  leisure,  until  it 
was  too  late  to  do  it.  I  must,  therefore,  has¬ 
ten,  the  Lord  permitting  me,  to  narrate  my 
eventful  life  in  brief,  ere  the  Lord  calls  me 
home  to  look  into  the  face  of  our  heavenly 
Father  and  to  thank  Him  for  His  unspeak¬ 
able  gift  of  great  love  to  me  in  revealing 
unto  me  Christ,  the  Lord,  the  Saviour  of 
my  soul  and  my  everlasting  glory.  God  grant 
us  all  the  grace  to  receive  this  most  gracious 
gift  as  an  inheritance  of  God’s  infinte  love 
and  mercy  in  Christ  Jesus  our  everlasting 
redemption. 

Thus,  under  God’s  Providence,  I  entered 
into  my  grandfather’s  home  as  an  inmate  of  it 
and  was  blessed  by  the  love,  care  and  training 
of  my  dearly  beloved,  self-sacrificing  and  de¬ 
voted  mother,  who  instilled  into  my  young 
heart  reverence  and  fear  of  God,  as  He  re¬ 
vealed  Himself  in  the  Old  Testament  Scrip¬ 
tures,  and  thereby  laid  the  foundation  of 
my  moral  character.  I  thus  became  a  con¬ 
scientious  Jew  by  birth  and  education  and 
conviction;  but  fortunately  freed  from  those 
prejudiced  views,  which  even  to  the  present 
time  keep  the  veil  over  the  Jewish  heart  when 
reading  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures  and 


5 


prevents  him  from  recognizing  in  Jesus  Christ 
the  promised  Messiah  who  should  redeem 
Israel,  yea,  and  the  world,  from  sin  and  un¬ 
righteousness  and  impart  to  it  all  the  right¬ 
eousness  of  God.  My  earliest  recollection 
which  I  vividly  retain  dates  back  to  my 
young  boyhood,  when  at  about  four  years  of 
age  our  man  servant  carried  me,  riding  on 
his  back,  to  school  to  begin  my  education. 
Thus  I  was  graciously  led,  unconsciously  as 
yet,  by  the  loving  hand  of  my  Heavenly 
Father,  to  commence  an  education  which  was 
to  fit  me  for  the  struggle  of  my  subsequent 
long  life,  by  God’s  appointed  agency  in  the 
home  of  my  grandfather,  who,  though  a  lib¬ 
eral  Jew,  was  yet  a  firm  believer  in  the  elec¬ 
tion  of  the  Jews  as  God’s  covenant  people. 
It  was  a  home  where  culture  and  piety  met 
and  where  as  a  natural  sequence  the  mental 
faculties  were  fitly  developed.  My  self-denying, 
devoted  mother,  by  her  assiduity  ana  earnest¬ 
ness  shaped  my  moral  character  and  moulded 
my  heart  by  a  reverent  sense  of  the  fear  of 
the  Lord  and  the  knowledge  of  the  Almighty, 
as  he  revealed  Himself  in  the  Old  Testament 
Scriptures.  Under  these  favorable  circum¬ 
stances,  both  my  natural  faculties  and  my 
moral  instincts  grew  in  understanding  and 
knowledge  and  became  the  handmaid  to  re¬ 
veal  unto  me  God’s  love  and  grace  as  the 
essence  of  His  Divine  Nature,  influencing  my 
intellect  and  conscience,  while  as  yet  I  was 
unconscious  of  the  sin  that  naturally  affected 
my  whole  being,  as  one  conceived  and  born 
in  sin.  No  wonder  that  the  Revelations  of 
God  in  the  Scriptures  of  the  Old  Testament 
were  to  me  a  sealed  book,  unopened  as  yet 
by  the  Lamb  of  God,  God’s  unspeakable  gift  to 
sinful  man.  The  veil,  therefore,  covered  my 
spiritual  conception  and  I  blindly  groped  in 
the  dark,  if  happily  I  might  find  God.  At  the 
age  of  fourteen  I  graduated  from  the  graded 
school  for  the  Jewish  community,  which  was 
established  by  the  efforts  of  my  grandfather, 
and  because  of  my  proficiency  in  bookkeeping, 


6 


was  at  once  employed  in  a  large  Typography, 
and  because  of  my  Calligraphy  was  called 
from  there  to  a  dry  goods  concern  as  book¬ 
keeper,  having  acquired  in  the  school,  the 
Russian,  German  and  French  languages,  and 
a  thorough  acquaintance  with  the  Hebrew 
Scriptures,  intending  to  fit  myself  for  a  mer¬ 
chant.  But  the  Lord  had  other  work  for  me, 
for  unexpectedly  my  father  called  me  to  Con¬ 
stantinople  to  live  with  him.  .1  accepted  his 
call  and  when  I  arrived  in  the  year  1844,  a 
lad  of  eighteen  years,  he  took  me  with  him 
to  Dr.  Schauffler’s  house  at  Pera  (the  Euro¬ 
pean  residence  portion)  and  I  then  became 
an  inmate  of  Dr.  Schauffler’s  home  and  his 
extensive  library  was  kept  open  for  my  in¬ 
spection  and  acquirement  of  knowledge.  I 
had  been  a  great  reader  of  fiction  and  history 
and  now,  under  God’s  Providence,  the  New 
Testament  attracted  my  attention,  and  I 
eagerly  read  it,  having  no  previous  knowl¬ 
edge  of  its  contents,  except  that  it  was  the 
Christian’s  Scripture. 

Thus,  for  the  first  time  I  eagerly  read  the 
narrative  of  the  great  personality  of  Jesus,  the 
promised  Messiah  of  the  Jews,  and  the  Lord  of 
Lords.  What  was  my  astonishment  that  this 
Jesus  whom  the  Jews  called  the  Crucified  One, 
and  whom  they  rejected  as  an  impostor,  was 
indeed  and  in  truth  the  promised  Messiah  of 
the  Jews,  the  one  whom  the  Christian  world 
called  their  Lord  and  Master.  My  childish 
imagination  was  fascinated  by  this  new  Scrip¬ 
ture  indited  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  with 
growing  interest,  I  read  the  life  and  work  of 
Jesus  Christ,  as  a  Book  so  utterly  different 
from  the  books  I  had  ever  read,  that  my  whole 
being  was  strangely  moved  by  its  contents. 
This  was  the  frame  of  my  mind  when  Dr. 
Schauffler  returned  to  Pera  from  Belach,  his 
summer  residence,  and  I  became  acquainted 
with  this  godly  and  learned  man  and  other  mis¬ 
sionaries  both  American  and  Scotch,  espe¬ 
cially  those  sent  to  the  Jews.  I  also  came 
in  contact,  first  of  all,  with  my  father  as  a 


7 


convert  from  among  the  Jews,  and  with  a 
small  band  of  believers  and  enquirers  from 
among  the  Jewish  residents  in  Constanti¬ 
nople;  and  being  thus  in  constant  intercourse 
with  Dr.  Schauffler  and  the  godly  men  sent 
from  England  and  Scotland,  the  history  of 
Jesus,  the  Christ,  assumed  a  new  aspect,  and 
began  to  trouble  my  heart  and  conscience.  I 
now  searched  the  Scriptures  with  regard  to 
the  claims  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth  to  be  the 
promised  Messiah  of  the  Jews,  who  being 
indeed  the  Son  of  God  was  to  save  from  sin 
and  death,  not  only  the  Jews,  but  the  whole 
world.  I  was  exceedingly  interested  in  the 
exposition  of  the  Scriptures  by  the  mission¬ 
aries,  and  especially  of  the  change  it  wrought 
in  the  life  and  conversation  of  those  who  ac¬ 
cepted  Christ  as  their  Saviour  and  Lord  and 
believed  in  Him  with  their  hearts.  The  New 
Testament  then,  as  the  revelation  of  God,  to 
be  interpreted  by  the  Holy  Spirit  gradually 
became  the  message  of  God  to  my  soul,  and  I 
became  not  only  a  searcher,  an  anxious  en¬ 
quirer,  but  a  trembling  believer  and  began 
to  feel  a  change  in  my  thoughts  and  actions, 
with  regard  to  the  truth  concerning  the  record 
of  Jesus  the  Christ  and  the  New  Testament. 
I  accepted  it  as  the  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
then  as  the  inspired  revelation  of  God  to  my 
own  soul  and  through  it  my  relations  toward 
God  and  man  were  changed.  In  fact,  I  was 
not  only  convicted  but  converted,  and  by  grace 
through  faith  was  led  to  accept  Him  as  my 
Lord  and  Master  and  Saviour  of  my  soul. 

'While  under  these  impressions,  fostered  and 
maintained  by  the  life  and  conversation  of  the 
believers  in  Christ,  under  God’s  providence 
my  life  entered  upon  a  new  sphere  of  exist¬ 
ence.  My  father  (my  mother  having  died  in 
Odessa)  became  acquainted  with  a  widow 
whose  father  and  mother  resided  in  Jerusa¬ 
lem,  both  of  whom  had  been  converted  through 
the  missionary  of  the  London  Missionary  So¬ 
ciety.  It  resulted  in  the  engagement  of  my 
father  to  their  daughter  and  they  were  to  be 


8 


married  at  Jerusalem.  My  father  left  Con¬ 
stantinople  to  go  to  Jerusalem,  and  he  took 
me  with  him.  Thus  in  1845  I  went  to  Jeru¬ 
salem,  and  about  the  same  time  the  Episcopal 
Church  established  a  college  there,  of  which 
the  Rev.  Dr.  Veitch  was  the  Chaplain  and 
President  and  Dr.  Nicolayson  the  missionary. 
After  the  marriage  of  my  father,  thus  becom¬ 
ing  a  resident  of  Jerusalem,  I  entered  this 
college,  having  been  baptized  by  Dr.  Nicolay¬ 
son,  and  began  the  study  of  Arabic  in  prep¬ 
aration  for  the  Gospel  Ministry.  I  stayed 
only  one  year  in  this  college,  and  in  1846  re¬ 
turned  to  Constantinople  and  was  cordially 
received  by  the  resident  American  mission¬ 
ary,  and  by  a  special  invitation  from  Dr. 
Schauffler  was  made  an  inmate  of  his  family. 
The  missionaries  of  the  Free  Church  of  Scot¬ 
land  also  cordially  received  me. 

My  entrance  into  that  estimable  family  was 
not  only  a  mieans  of  grace  to  me  spiritually 
but  it  also  greatly  helped  me  to  come  to  a 
decision  with  regard  to  my  future.  After 
prayerful  consideration  aided  by  the  beloved 
missionaries  I  resolved  to  go  to  America, 
there  to  complete  preparations  to  fit  myself 
for  a  missionary  to  the  Jews.  At  this  criti¬ 
cal  time  the  Lord,  in  His  mercy,  again  used 
Dr.  Schauffler  as  the  efficient  agent  to  attain 
my  desired  aim.  Dr.  Schauffler,  beloved  and 
trusted  by  all  who  knew  him,  interested  the 
Friends  of  Israel  in  my  behalf  and  procured 
for  me  an  invitation  from  Dr.  William  Thomp¬ 
son,  Professor  of  Hebrew  in  the  Theological 
Seminary  at  East  Windsor  (now  Hartford) 
to  become  his  guest ;  so  that  when  I  landed 
in  America  I  should  go  directly  to  East  Wind¬ 
sor  and  he  would  care  for  me.  After  procur¬ 
ing  for  me  this  invitation  and  giving  me  a 
letter  of  introduction  to  William  Adams, 
D.  D.,  Pastor  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in 
New  York,  I  took  passage  in  a  sailing  vessel 
from  Smyrna,  loaded  with  figs  for  Boston, 
Mass.  After  a  voyage  of  sixty-five  days, 
tossed  by  wind  and  waves,  I  safely  landed  at 


9 


Boston  and  was  hospitably  received  by  the 
brother  of  Professor  William  Thompson,  Dr. 
Augustin  Thompson,  of  Brookline,  Mass.,  who 
equipped  me  for  the  cold  weather  and  in  a 
few  days  was  received  by  Professor  Wm. 
Thompson,  D.  D.,  and  lodged  at  the  premises 
of  the  Seminary. 

Here  again  I  must  linger  for  a  moment  to 
speak  of  this  voyage  and  to  give  glory  to 
God’s  merciful  Providence.  Owing  to  my 
slender  means,  which  constrained  me  to  use 
the  utmost  economy,  I  availed  myself  of  the 
opportunity  to  engage  my  passage  in  a  sail¬ 
ing  vessel  which  started  from  Smyrna  direct 
to  Boston.  Though  the  season  was  un- 
auspicious  (just  as  it  was  at  the  time  when 
the  Apostle  Paul,  in  obedience  to  the  com¬ 
mand  of  God,  impelled  to  go  to  Rome,  there 
to  witness  for  Christ  and  His  Gospel  was 
against  his  better  judgment  compelled  to  start 
at  that  season  suffering  shipwreck,  but  by  his 
prayers  saving  all  those  who  sailed  with  him), 
I  trusted  in  the  Lord  and  recognized  His 
Providence — and  though  the  passage  was  to 
be  rough  and  long,  I  also  was  sustained  by  a 
higher  Power  and  the  very  length  of  the 
passage  was  a  means  of  grace  to  me,  because 
it  gave  me  the  opportunity  to  read  the  Holy 
Scriptures  through  and  through,  by  which  I 
was  more  effectually  rooted  and  grounded  in 
the  faith  and  fitted  for  the  work  the  Lord  had 
for  me  to  do.  All  glory  to  His  loving  kind¬ 
ness  and  tender  mercies. 

I  was  the  only  passenger  and  hence  had 
much  intercourse  with  the  Captain,  mostly  on 
the  subject  of  religion,  which  wrought  a  great 
change  in  his  character,  by  God’s  grace  and 
strengthened  my  own  faith.  At  my  temporary 
sojourn  at  East  Windsor  Seminary  the  Lord 
evidenced  to  me  the  profitableness  of  godliness, 
bringing  me  in  contact  with  that  godly  man, 
Prof.  William  Thompson,  D.  D.,  who  had  but 
recently  recovered  from  a  severe  illness,  yet 
cordially  received  me  as  a  son  in  the  Lord, 
and  provided  me  with  the  necessary  books  and 


10 


boarded  me  at  his  own  house,  he  and  his 
family  making  it  a  real  home  for  me.  The 
then  resident  students  in  the  Seminary  aided 
me  in  my  preliminary  studies  of  Latin  and 
Greek  and  treated  me  as  a  brother.  It  was 
at  that  time  that  I  made  the  acquaintance  of 
Jacob  Tyler,  Jr.,  the  son  of  the  President 
of  the  Theological  Seminary,  which  soon  rip¬ 
ened  into  friendship  as  he  resolved  to  become 
a  missionary  among  the  Zulus  (South  Africa) 
(in  the  Transvaal).  But  I  am  constrained  to 
be  brief  and  will  therefore  proceed  with  my 
narrative. 

I  had  already  acquired  a  liberal  education, 
having  graduated  and  received  a  diploma  from 
the  graded  school  at  Odessa,  Russia,  where  I 
acquired  the  German,  Russian  and  French  lan¬ 
guages  and  much  practical  knowledge  in  my 
grandfather’s  home,  which  was  the  center  of 
the  educated  class  of  the  Jews  in  that  place, 
and  also  had  acquired  much  practical  expe¬ 
rience  from  the  situations  I  held  after  grad¬ 
uating  and  becoming  an  inmate  of  Dr.  Schauf- 
fler’s  home.  This  friend  showed  great  kind¬ 
ness  in  himself  instructing  me  in  the  Latin 
and  Greek  Grammars,  and  through  his  influ¬ 
ence  when  arriving  in  America  I  was  lodged 
in  the  Theological  Seminary  at  East  Windsor, 
Conn.,  and  was  greatly  aided  by  the  students 
I  found  there  and  made  considerable  progress 
in  the  classics,  both  Latin  and  Greek.  But 
still  I  felt  as  the  call  had  come  to  devote  my 
life  as  a  missionary  in  the  service  of  my  Mas¬ 
ter  and  Lord,  I  needed  higher  education. 
Whence  I  resolved  to  prepare  myself  to  go 
through  a  college  course.  I  was  counselled  by 
Prof.  Thompson  and  other  friends  first  to 
enter  Williston  Preparatory  School,  at  East 
Hampton,  Mass.  Guided  by  the  merciful  hand 
of  God,  a  way  was  opened  for  me  to  do  so, 
since  a  niece  of  Rev.  Williston,  the  father  of 
the  founder  of  East  Hampton,  and  the  organ¬ 
izer  of  Williston  Seminary,  wanted  to  study 
the  French  language,  and  I  was  offered  this 
position  and  received  my  board  at  his  house 


11 


to  teach  her  French.  It  was  the  Lord’s  doing, 
that  by  the  knowledge  of  French  I  acquired 
in  Odessa,  it  was  to  be  the  means  of  giving 
me  the  benefit  of  this  thorough  preparatory 
school,  and  to  procure  unto  me  the  interest  of 
valued  friends.  Dr.  Wright  was  the  Princi¬ 
pal  of  the  school,  and  finding  me  proficient 
in  the  European  languages,  gave  me  additional 
private  lessons  in  Greek  and  Latin,  and  I  was 
then  fitted  to  enter  Amherst  College  as  a 
Sophomore,  and  at  the  same  time  was  en¬ 
gaged  as  a  teacher  of  German  in  the  college. 

While  in  Amherst  College,  I  used  my  first 
long  vacation  as  a  colporteur  of  the  Ameri¬ 
can  Tract  Society,  selling  their  books  and 
preaching  to  the  Germans,  and  by  that  attract¬ 
ed  the  attention  of  the  Congregational  Minis¬ 
ters  of  Norwich,  Conn.  Dr.  Bond  being  the 
pastor  of  the  Second  Congregational  Church 
and  Dr.  Gulliver  of  the  Broadway  Congrega¬ 
tional.  Both  the  Pastors  helped  me  greatly 
and  I  was  cordially  received  by  the  members 
of  the  churches,  and  had  the  privilege  of  get¬ 
ting  acquainted  with  William  A.  Buckingham, 
afterwards  War  Governor  of  Connecticut,  and 
Mr.  H.  H.  Osgood  of  the  drug  firm,  Lee  & 
Osgood  (afterward  Mayor  of  Norwich)  and 
one  of  the  prominent  bankers  of  that  city.  I 
interviewed  quite  a  number  of  Germans,  and 
as  many  of  them  were  musicians,  we  were 
invited  to  some  of  the  best  families  in  Nor¬ 
wich.  And  as  at  that  time  Mr.  Otis  estab¬ 
lished  a  public  library  in  Norwich,  I  had  great 
success  in  selling  the  Tract  Society  books. 
The  Trustees  of  the  library  added  a  German 
branch  and  I  was  sent  by  the  Trustees  of  the 
library  to  procure  the  books,  which  I  did,  both 
of  the  Tract  Society  publications  and  the  clas¬ 
sics.  By  this  means  many  Germans  bought 
tickets  as  members  of  the  society,  which  gave 
me  a  greater  opportunity  to  make  my  sojourn 
in  Norwich  very  pleasant  and  profitable  to 
the  Tract  Society.  But  above  all,  it  brought 
me  in  contact  with  a  generous  Christian  peo¬ 
ple  and  made  me  feel  in  Norwich  as  a  gen- 


12 


eral  home.  And  all  this  came  to  pass  because 
of  the  practiced  piety  of  the  aunt  of  Mr.  Os¬ 
good,  Mrs.  Charles  Lee,  who  adopted  me  as 
though  I  were  her  own  son  and  gave  me  a 
whole  outfit  ere  I  went  back  to  college.  The 
pleasant  remembrance  of  Norwich  and  the 
generous  Christian  fellowship  in  the  Lord,  I 
feel  constrained  to  embody  in  this  brief  sketch 
of  m,y  life,  as  an  episode  of  my  early  expe¬ 
rience  in  America,  as  it  so  vividly  demon¬ 
strated  the  divine  utterance  of  the  Apostle 
John  speaking  of  the  followers  of  Jesus  Christ 
“Behold  how  they  love  each  other.”  After¬ 
wards  while  I  was  in  Turkey  as  a  missionary 
to  the  Jews  I  kept  up  a  correspondence  with 
this,  my  American  mother,  in  the  Lord,  and 
when  I  returned  from  my  mission  field  she  con¬ 
tinued  her  care  and  interest  in  me,  but  more 
especially  in  the  mission  to  the  Jews.  She  was 
a  saint  and  is  doubtless  among  the  redeemed  of 
the  Lord ! 

Dr.  Gulliver,  of  Norwich,  was  also  very  kind 
and  profitable  to  me.  But  I  must  curb  my 
memory  and  all  the  pleasant  associations  it 
brings  to  view,  and  go  on  with  my  narrative 
of  my  experiences  in  this  blessed  country  of 
the  Puritans,  the  real  founders  of  American 
church  life  and' the  liberty  it  enjoys.  While 
in  Amherst  College,  a  college  mate,  Mr.  Avery, 
invited  me  to  spend  my  vacation  at  his  home, 
and  there  I  wrote  my  first  lecture  on  the  Jews, 
their  customs,  ordinances  and  the  principle 
feasts  they  observed,  which  I  delivered  in  the 
Congregational  Church  and  as  it  was  so  favor¬ 
ably  received  it  became  a  means  for  my  sup¬ 
port  and  brought  me  in  contact  with  many  of 
the  Friends  of  Israel.  Among  others  I  must 
mention  especially  Rev.  Edward  N.  Kirk,  the 
Pastor  of  the  South  Church  of  Boston,  who 
invited  me  to  deliver  the  lecture  in  his  church 
and  also  asked  me  to  spend  one  of  my  vaca¬ 
tions  at  his  house  in  Boston  and  treated  me 
as  a  son.  At  his  house  I  received  from  him 
my  first  lesson  in  elocution  and  wrote  my  first 
skeleton  of  a  sermon.  In  after  years,  when  1 


13 


was  accepted  by  the  A.  B.  C.  F.  M.  and  sent 
to  Salonica,  Macedonia,  Turkey,  as  their  mis¬ 
sionary  to  the  Jews,  he  procured  for  me  the 
publications  of  “The  Educational  Publication 
of  Theological  Books”  and  gave  me  valuable 
introductions  to  distinguished  Friends  of  Is¬ 
rael,  among  others  one  to  Hon.  Lord  Kin- 
nard,  who,  when  in  London,  procured  for  me 
an  entrance  into  the  Houses  of  Parliament, 
and  an  invitation  to  a  tea  he  gave  at  his  resi¬ 
dence  to  the  then  visiting  Jewish  missionaries 
at  London.  This  eloquent  and  godly  man  also 
made  an  epoch  in  my  spiritual  experience. 
While  teaching  a  German  class  in  Amherst 
College,  I  received  an  invitation  from  the 
Rev.  Mark  Hopkins,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Presi¬ 
dent  of  Williams  College  to  come  to  Williams 
College  to  enter  my  senior  year  and  to  organ¬ 
ize  a  German  class  for  those  who  wished  to 
study  the  German  language.  I  did  so  and  be¬ 
came  a  member  of  the  class  of  ’52  and  had  in 
my  German  class,  among  others,  the  Rev. 
A.  L.  Perry  and  Rev.  Lewellyn  Pratt,  both  of 
whom,  after  their  graduation,  became  Profes¬ 
sors  in  Williams  College,  and  Bro.  Pratt  was 
called  as  Professor  to  Hartford  Theological 
Seminary. 

This  ended  my  collegiate  course,  and  after 
graduation  I  went  back  to  East  Windsor 
Theological  Seminary  and  was  generously  re¬ 
ceived  by  Prof.  William  Thompson,  then  an 
instructor  in  the  Hebrew  language.  While  at 
East  Windsor  I  instructed  in  Dr.  Thompson’s 
family  in  German,  boarded  at  his  home  and 
enjoyed  the  intercourse  of  this  eminent  and 
godly  man.  But  being  myself  proficient  in  the 
Hebrew,  having  studied  it  from  my  childhood 
and  youth,  before  I  even  was  called  of  God, 
through  faith  in  Jesus  Christ  my  Messiah  and 
Lord  and  Master,  I  was  excused  from  attend¬ 
ing  the  middle  class  and  went  to  the  Union 
Theological  Seminary  at  New  York,  from 
which  I  was  graduated  and  went  back  to  my 
beloved  Alma  Mater  at  East  Windsor  to  re¬ 
ceive  my  diploma  from  that  institution.  Dur- 


14 


ing  my  last  year  at  East  Windsor  I  made  ap¬ 
plication  to  the  A.  B.  C.  F.  M.  and  was  ac¬ 
cepted  and  sent  to  Salonica,  Macedonia,  Tur¬ 
key,  as  a  missionary  to  the  Jews,  with  per¬ 
mission  to  spend  one  year  in  Germany  at  my 
own  expense.  This  I  gladly  did,  as  my  father 
bore  the  expense.  I  was  examined  and  ad¬ 
mitted  to  preach  the  Gospel  at  the  Hartford 
Association  of  Congregational  Ministers.  Dr. 
Harvey  being  the  Chairman  and  Dr.  Clark, 
Minister  in  Hartford,  preached  the  sermon  at 
my  ordination,  while  Dr.  Tuttle,  the  Pastor  of 
the  Congregational  Church,  gave  me  my  first 
outfit  to  enter  my  chosen  field  of  labor.  Here 
I  must  pause  and  just  glance  at  my  long  vaca¬ 
tion  before  I  received  my  diploma  from  the 
Trustees  of  Williams  College,  and  was  about 
to  sail  for  my  field  of  labor  in  Turkey. 


PART  II. 

The  narrative  of  my  life  since  I  graduated 
from  Williams  College  in  ’52  is  briefly  as 
follows : 

As  before  mentioned; 

After  leaving  Williams  I  went  to  East 
Windsor  Theological  Seminary  (now  Hart¬ 
ford)  to  study  for  the  gospel  ministry,  and 
then  spent  the  senior  year  at  Union  Theo¬ 
logical  Seminary,  having  pursued  my  classi¬ 
cal  and  theological  studies  to  prepare  myself 
as  a  missionary  to  the  Hebrew  nation.  I  ap¬ 
plied  to  the  A.  B.  C.  F.  M.  and  was  accepted 
and  appointed  to  the  newly  organized  mission 
at  Salonica,  Turkey,  and  having  received  the 
permission  of  the  board  to  spend  a  year  in 
Germany  in  special  preparation  for  the  work 
I  sailed  from  New  York,  via  London,  in  the 
spring  of  1855,  and  after  a  short  visit  in  Scot¬ 
land,  settled  in  Dresden  for  the  year.  Being 
introduced  by  letter  from  Prof.  H.  Smith 
of  U.  W.  T.  to  Dr.  Wolrick  in  Halle,  I  visited 
Halle  University  and  was  very  kindly  received 
by  Dr.  Wolrick  and  spent  a  short  time  in  Leip¬ 
zig.  While  in  Dresden  I  received  notice  from 


15 


Dr.  Anderson  (then  Secretary  of  the  Amer¬ 
ican  Board)  that  at  a  meeting  of  the  Evan¬ 
gelical  Alliance  in  Paris,  Dr.  Norman  C.  Lorid, 
of  Glasgow,  expressed  the  desire  of  the  Es¬ 
tablished  Church  of  Scotland,  to  organize  a 
mission  for  the  Jews  and  Greeks  in  Turkey, 
and  Dr.  Anderson,  with  the  consent  of  the 
board,  tendered  the  Salonica  field  to  the 
Church  of  Scotland. 

To  my  surprise,  while  yet  in  Dresden,  Sax¬ 
ony,  a  delegation  from  the  Committee  of  Jew¬ 
ish  Missions  of  the  Established  Church  of 
Scotland  interviewed  me,  asking  me  whether 
I  would  be  willing  to  cancel  my  appointment 
of  the  A.  B.  C.  F.  M.  and  become  the  mis¬ 
sionary  of  the  Established  Church  of  Scotland. 
I  readily  consented,  and  before  my  year  of 
leave  was  ended,  received  a  commission  from 
the  Church  of  Scotland  to  become  their  mis¬ 
sionary  in  Salonica,  Turkey.  It  was  thus  that 
my  relation  was  changed,  and  I  went  to 
Salonica  to  organize  the  mission  among  the 
Jews  and  Greeks  under  the  auspices  of  the 
Established  Church  of  Scotland.  After  re¬ 
maining  in  Salonica  three  years,  preaching 
both  to  the  Jews  and  the  Greeks,  I  was  in¬ 
vited  by  the  comlmittee  to  present  the  needs 
of  my  field  among  the  churches  in  Scotland. 

For  nearly  six  months  I  made  my  head¬ 
quarters  at  Edinburgh  and  traveled  through 
the  length  and  breadth  of  Scotland  preaching 
and  lecturing  in  the  interest  of  the  mission  at 
Salonica.  I  visited  the  four  universities  in 
the  cities  of  Edinburgh,  Glasgow,  Aberdeen 
and  St.  Andrews  and  addressed  the  students 
and  met  the  Presidents,  Professors  and  Clergy 
in  social  intercourse,  creating  a  lively  interest 
in  the  Mission  Committee  and  my  charge.  It 
was  indeed  a  great  privilege  I  enjoyed  to  meet 
the  solid,  distinguished  men  of  the  church  of 
Scotland  and  to  come  in  close  contact  with  a 
people  remarkable  for  firmness  of  character 
and  invincible  in  their  loyalty  to  the  truth  as 
it  is  in  Jesus. 

After  laboring  throughout  the  winter  of 

16 


[58,  Sundays  and  week  days  in  the  church  and 
in  social  circles,  before  returning  to  my  field 
of  labor,  the  committee  granted  me  a  vacation 
to  recuperate,  as  my  health  was  impaired.  I 
visited  several  mineral  baths,  and  among 
others  Canstat,  near  Stuttgart.  It  was  here 
that  I  received  favor  from  the  Lord  in  win¬ 
ning  the  heart  with  its  wealth  of  affection  of 
my  dearly  beloved  wife,  a  treasure  and  a  joy, 
strength  and  comfort  throughout  my  life.  We 
were  married  in  Frankfurt  (A./M.)  spent  our 
honeymoon  in  Rostock,  and  at  the  Lake  of 
Constance,  and  then  were  sent  providentially 
to  Darmstadt  to  supply  the  place  of  a  deceased 
missionary  working  among  the  Jews  at  that 
place.  But,  in  God's  Providence,  I  was  again 
to  return  to  Turkey.  For  while  we  were  just 
preparing  to  enter  upon  our  work  in  Darm¬ 
stadt  the  Convener  of  the  committee,  Prof. 
Alex.  F.  Michels,  of  St.  Andrews  University, 
unexpectedly  appeared  in  Darmstadt  with  the 
message  that  the  committee  had  resolved  to 
establish  a  mission  at  Constantinople  and  I 
must  go  to  organize  it.  Of  course  we  had  to 
pack  up  on  the  instant  and  proceed  to  Con¬ 
stantinople.  For  three  years  we  labored  in 
patience,  but  without  any  visible  results,  and 
after  due  deliberation,  resolved  to  sever  our 
connection  with  the  Church  of  Scotland  and 
turn  our  faces  toward  my  adopted  Fatherland, 
America.  We  arrived  in  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  in 
the  fall  of  '62  and  I  accepted  a  call  to  Lock- 
port,  N.  Y.,  to  become  the  pastor  of  a  German 
Church.  While  in  Lockport  the  Second  Whrd 
Presbyterian  Church  became  vacant,  and  I 
was  invited  to  supply  its  pulpit,  laboring  in 
Lockport  for  two  years.  Through  the  in¬ 
fluence  of  Dr.  William  Adams  of  New  York 
I  was  tendered  a  mission  among  the  Ger¬ 
mans  in  Cincinnati,  who  organized  a  church 
there  which  I  served  two  years  and  was  called 
to  Gasport,  N.  Y.,  to  take  charge  of  an 
academy  and  also  supply  the  pulpit  of  the 
church.  From  Gasport  I  was  called  to  Lyn- 
donville,  N.  Y.,  where  I  spent  ten  happy,  use- 


17 


ful  years,  preaching  the  gospel  at  the  Presby¬ 
terian  Church.  From  Lyndonville  I  was  called 
to  Barry  Center  and  then  to  Holley,  in  the 
same  state,  remaining  a  member  of  the  Presby¬ 
tery  of  Niagara  for  sixteen  years.  While  in 
Holley  my  two  sons  graduated  from  Williams 
College,  and  as  they  wished  to  go  West,  we 
thought  it  to  be  our  duty  to  go  with  them,  and 
so  with  my  family  of  three  sons  and  one 
daughter  I  removed  to  Chicago,  Ill.  and  joined 
the  Presbytery  of  Chicago.  With  the  exception 
of  two  years  spent  in  Wisconsin,  organizing 
and  supplying  churches,  I  remained  in  connec¬ 
tion  with  this  Presbytery  for  about  twenty 
years.  I  am  now  in  La  Grange,  Ill.,  a  suburb 
of  Chicago,  with  one  of  my  sons,  who  is  a 
manufacturer  and  an  able  business  man,  being 
not  only  about  his  own  business,  but  more 
especially  about  his  Father’s  business,  active  in 
Church,  Christian  Endeavor  Society,  Sunday 
Schools  and  Young  Men’s  Christian  Associa¬ 
tions.  Thus  far  has  the  Lord  led  me  in 
great  mercy  and  loving  kindness  and  has  spared 
my  life  to  be  active  in  His  service. 
At  present  I  am  Pastor  and  Trustee  of 
the  Chicago  Hebrew  Mission  and  waiting 
for  my  redemption  through  the  blood  of 
Jesus  Christ  to  enter  into  higher  service 
in  His  blessed  Kingdom,  the  Home  of  the 
Redeemed. 


Thus  far  the  narration  is  the  record  from 
the  pen  of  our  beloved  brother.  Others  must 
now  finish  what  he  began. 

September  20th,  1895,  Rev.  Marcusson  was 
made  the  Superintendent  and  Pastor  of  the 
mission.  Living  out  of  the  city  he  found  it 
difficult  to  continue  to  hold  these  offices  so, 
after  a  few  years  he  resigned  the  Superin¬ 
tendency  and  was  then  made  “Pastor  Emer- 
itis,”  which  position  he  occupied  until  death 
parted  us. 

On  the  wings  of  the  early  morning,  April 
2nd,  1913,  he  was  borne  by  the  angels  to  his 


18 


mansion  prepared  and  the  Chicago  Hebrew 
mission,  with  a  wide  circle  of  friends,  mourn 
his  loss  and  miss  his  counsels  and  prayers. 

During  all  these  years  his  young,  tender 
heart  (which  never  grew  old)  went  out  to 
the  children,  especially  during  the  holidays. 
With  unwearied  feet,  that  tottered  after  he 
had  reached  four  score  years,  he  went  from 
friend  to  friend,  asking  them  to  contribute  to 
the  Christmas  joys  of  the  little  Jewish  folk, 
and  he  always  found  those  who  did  respond 
most  generously.  Thus  he  ministered,  and 
thus  will  he  live  in  the  hearts  of  the  children 
and  those  who  shared  with  them  their  happi¬ 
ness. 

He  got  others  to  give — he  gave  himself. 
One  of  the  most  touching  things  in  connec¬ 
tion  with  his  funeral  was  that  several  of  the 
La  Grange  friends  who  have  been  amongst 
our  Christmas  contributors,  instead  of  send¬ 
ing  flowers  that  perish  to  the  church  to  adorn 
his  casket,  sent  the  family  cheques,  to  be  -for¬ 
warded  to  the  mission  in  his  name,  thus  show¬ 
ing  how  fully  they  appreciated  “Father  Mar- 
cusson’s”  devotion  to  the  mission. 

His  bright,  cheerful  face  was  always  a  bene¬ 
diction  and  an  inspiration  wherever  he  went. 
His  one  aim  in  life  seemed  to  be  to  make 
others  happy  around  him,  and  to  pour  oil  upon 
troubled  waters. 

He  bears  now  the  form  of  “youth  immor¬ 
tal/’  and  we  doubt  not  that  the  activity  and 
energy  that  characterized  his  life  here  will 
find  its  full  development  in  the  land  of  sun¬ 
shine  and  flowers,  both  of  which  he  so  dearly 
loved.  As  we  listen  we  catch  this  floating 
benediction,  “Therefore  my  beloved  brethren, 
be  ye  steadfast,  immovable,  always  abounding 
in  the  work  of  the  Lord,  inasmuch  as  ye  know 
that  your  labor  is  not  in  vain  in  the  Lord.” 


19 


1 


I 


